Life to DeCipher
by PotterPhantomKitten
Summary: Bill was once a near-omnipitent dream-demon. Now, after wanting to learn more about humans, he's become one. However, he finds that all he can remember of his old identity is his first name, and as he comes to be accustomed to his new identity, he may learn things he doesn't like about his old one. Slight AU, inspired by the Doctor Who episodes, "Human Nature/The Family of Blood".


**A/N: While my main focus is my Inside Out stories right now (along with a novel) I've recently become obsessed with Gravity Falls! I started seeing all these human versions of Bill, and read some AUs, and then I got an idea: what if Bill became human, but had no memory of being his demon self? This, this AU was born!**

 **As a note, in this AU, the journals haven't been found yet so none of the Gravity Falls gang knows of Bill's existence, and Time Baby serves as a sort of mentor to Bill—think Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker. Also, this was slightly inspired by the Doctor Who episodes "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood".**

 **And final note, there will be platonic Billdip and Mabill, but mostly Billdip.**

 **Disclaimer: Oh how I wish I owned Gravity Falls. Also, the fic picture is by cjwolf207.**

* * *

In the small town of Gravity Falls, the triangle-shaped demon known as Bill Cipher found himself laughing as time in the world around him stood still. Another night, another human to terrorize and mess with. This night he had appeared in the dreams of a young girl and allowed his eye to follow her, bringing forth the illusion of her father before morphing it into a screaming, distorted head.

 _The look on her face when she woke up screaming just like the head! Oh, it made my night!_

Contained in the Nightmare Realm or not, there was nothing more that Bill loved than messing with the psyches of people and causing them to question everything they knew and loved. And making deals of course—they often were too naive and never knew what they were really getting into. Silly humans!

Bill spread his arms, allowing time to resume once more. It was then that the dream demon began to wonder, as clouds rolled into cover the moon and the rumbling of thunder could be heard. He hovered higher into the sky, gazing down at all the buildings of Gravity Falls. Where everyone, except probably a few late-night teenagers, were deep in slumberland.

"I have power over humans in the dream world," he mused, "and even though they're just dreams, some humans seem so intelligent that they're capable of imagining entire worlds and interacting with them! Imagine if I could project that force into the physical world!"

The triangle would have grinned if he had a mouth, rubbing his hands together in glee as flashes of lightning lit up the sky. True, his power was liminted for now to the mindscape, but there could easily be ways to overcome it. After all, wasn't that what humans who supposedly had psychic abilities did? If they could use their minds to influence the physical world, why couldn't he, a near-omnipitant dream-demon, do that and so much more?

"Since dreams have power, if I were able to reach into the minds and untapped potential of every human, then every being in the universe, I would be able to draw all that power into the Nightmare Realm!" Blue flames began to rise from his hands. "My power would grow, I could hone that to beyond the stars if I wished! Weirdmageddon could be unleashed on all of existence, I could even take Time Baby's place as supreme ruler of time itself!"

Unfortunately for Bill, however, his time of enjoyment was short-lived.

Just as Bill's eye grew in size, stretching his focus to the dreams of every person within reach as his pupil grew more focused like a laser charging up to fire, his eye then widened for a different reason aside from focus. A glowing blue image in the shape of an hourglass appeared in the sky, seeming to stare directly at him.

"Are you willing to bet on that?" the familiar deep voice boomed. A second later, a ghostly apparition of a large baby took shape, the hourglass-like symbol glowing on its forehead.

Bill rolled his single eye. "Look Time Baby, I don't have time for your childish attempt at scolding." He moved closer to the projected hourglass form, as if initiating a staring contest. "I have dreams to conquer here and untapped power to control! Sure physically humans may be a bunch of meat puppets, but their minds? There's some pretty good potential for control there! I'm near-omnipitent, I can do anything, I should be omniscient too!"

Time Baby didn't seem intimidated in the slightest. "Bill Cipher, I will make this quick, since your meddling with universal domination is disturbing my naptime. Just because you know facts doesn't mean you know experience."

"Experience, schmerience, who cares?" Bill muttered, waving his hands. "Humans are just a bunch of meat puppets that are fun to toy with!"

"There's your problem," Time Baby proclaimed. "Just because you know what humans are like, doesn't mean you know what it's like to really be like a human." The giant-baby crossed his arms, his eyes narrowed slightly.

Bill only waved one of his hands. "Don't get all squinty at me, you look like you're gonna pop like a balloon!"

Time Baby's fists clenched, not even cracking a smile at Bill's attempt at humor. "Bill, if these humans are so important to you, why don't you try being one for a change?"

"What?" Bill practically spun in the air in surprise, his hands on his hips. "If you think I'm gonna—"

"If you don't," Time Baby interrupted, "then how will you know what really makes them work?"

Bill seemed about to retort, but then paused. He never liked it when Time Baby had a point. He didn't like it when they first met billions of years ago, and he certainly didn't like it now. "... Are you suggesting we make some sort of deal?"

Time Baby grunted with a nod. "I know how much you like deals."

The dream demon looked as thoughtful as he could manage. "So if I become a human for a little while, then I'll know exactly what their weaknesses are, I like the sound of that!" He held out his hand. "You've got—wait..." He hovered closer to Time Baby's face, his eye narrowed suspiciously. "This isn't gonna have me become a human forever, right?"

"You will only be human until you have learned more about human weaknesses and really wish to return to your true form," Time Baby promised, his own hand glowing with a blue light that matched his hourglass mark.

Bill would have smiled. This way he could learn all he could about what really made a human weak, and no one would suspect a thing. No suspicious glances from a family member or friend who questioned why they were acting so strange, no need to keep up appearances... and he could return to his gold old form when he really wanted to and got all the answers he needed.

Perfect.

"Time Baby," he announced, his hand engulfed in blue flame as his hand met his old mentor's large, illuminated once, "you've got yourself a deal."

"Excellent."

The hourglass symbol on Time Baby's forehead grew brighter, the light spreading around him before reaching Bill's arm. The light surrounded the trinagle, actually causing a jolt like a current throughout his body.

Then Bill was aware of only light, changing from blue to yellow to meld with his appearance.

And then the next thing that came to his awareness was the sensation of falling.

Bill tried to shout, but he couldn't. Huh, wanting to shout, that was new... wasn't it?

Bill was aware of the yellow light forming around him like a shooting star, certainly feeling like he was moving as fast as one. He could make out the imagery of houses, and stars, and the moon...

And falling, falling was new.

He screamed, opening his mouth that he realized he had. He didn't like this falling feeling. It was new and it was hurting his head and he didn't like it and...

 _Humans are fleshbags... reality is an illusion... I can know all the secrets of the universe... time is... time is..._

There was knowledge, no, there had _been_ knowledge, he knew it. But the faster this sensation of going downward propelled him, the more it seemed to disappear.

 _Okay, what do I know?_ he thought to himself frantically, trying to move his arms but realizing he couldn't. _Okay, I'm falling from somewhere, I can't stop, there's all this light around me, my name is Bill Ci..._

The thought died mid-word, his last name too fading away,

 _Bill. My name is Bill._

The moment the thought came to him, one of the only thoughts left of his old life, a whirlwind of other thoughts came to him.

 _I'm falling, why am I falling?!_

 _I can't move, someone help me!_

 _I can't scream!_

 _Help!_

 _I'm going to die I'm going to—_

There was pain. Then darkness. The light and falling vanished.

It felt like he was in that darkness forever.

* * *

After what felt like an endless amount of time, Bill felt sensation coming back. He heard voices. And saw light from behind his eyelids.

 _"Hey, are you okay?"_

 _"Dipper, do you know him?_ _Is he dead?"_

 _"No, Mabel, he's not dead."_

 _"Think he needs mouth-to-mouth?"_

Bill could barely make out the voices, but they were talking about him. He knew it.

He forced himself to slowly open his eyes, wanting to squeeze them shut as soon as he did so. It wasn't like the cocoon of light that he remembered from when he was falling, but it still hurt his eyes... well, one eye, at least. The other was shielded by his hair... at least, what he thought was his hair. He had hair, right?

Bill carefully blinked his eyes open. And saw two pairs of eyes staring worriedly back at him.

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 **A/N: That's the first chapter! :) Stay tuned for the next one and please review!**


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